Mechanism for knitting plated fabric



July 6, 1937. w. L./HOUSEMAN' 3 MECHANISM FOR KNITTING PLATED FABRIC Filed July 29, 1927 a 6 I: b

Patented July 6, 1937 mans MECHANISM FOR, KNITTING PLATED Wilbur L. Houseman, Philadelphia, Pa, assignor to Standard-Trump Bros. Machine Company, Wilmington, DeL, a corporation of Delaware Application July 29, 1927, Serial No. 209,383

13 Claims.

It is common to knit plated fabric, that is, one which is formed of a backing yarn and a facing yarn, by feeding these two yarns under differential tension simultaneously to the needles. It is well known in practice that if the hooks of certain needles set back out of line with the circle of regular needles, the position of the two yarns will be reversed in these needles so that the backing yarn will, in the vertical needle wales formed by such needles, appear on the face of the fabric, thereby producing vertical stripes. It is also quite old to selectively push needles back for certain purposes, as, for example, the insertion of a weft thread, as disclosed in the Scott Patent The object of the present invention is to se lectively push back the hook ends of needles to eifect reverse plating.

By means of the present invention, if certain needles are continuously pushed back, or if means were provided to continuously hold them back, vertical stripes may be produced as in the prior art. By selectively pushing back the same needles intermittently, intermittent stripes may be pro-' duced. By selectively pushing back, at different courses of knitting, diiferent groups of needles, figured efiects of predetermined design may be produced.

It is desirable to have the hooks of the needles in a perfect circle When the heel and toe of a stocking are being knit, or when a transfer ring is being placed on the needles for the purpose of transferring a rib top. In both instances, drop stitches are apt to occur on needles which are set back. By means of the present invention, the needle pushing mechanism at such times-may be i rendered entirely inactive, whereby all the needles occupy the normal perfect circle.

v The invention involves the feeding of two yarns to a circle of needles in such relation as will cause the needles, when in normal position, to knitregular plated fabric, and the selective pressing back of certain needles at the stitch drawing point so that such needles will knit the yarn in a D reversed relationship and thus produce reverse plated fabric in the wales knit by such needles while such needles are so pressed back. The invention also comprises the mechanism for so 50 pressing back needles.

A preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is an elevational view, mainly in section, of a part of the needle cylinder and of the means 55 for selectively pressing back needles.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the upper ends of two needles, one in normal position to knit regular plated fabric and the other pressed back into position to knit reverse plated fabric.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the needle presser actuating jacks.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a modification in. which a single member performs the functions of a jack and presser.

Vertically slidable in slots of the revolving needle cylinder a are the needles o which are movable up and down in a. normal knitting wave by cams not shown. Fastened to the needle cylinder is the sinker dial 0, which carries the sinkers or web holders b, which cooperate with the needles in the usual manner to form the stitches.

Below the sinker dial c is a slotted jack dial d, which is attached to the sinker dial. Pressers e are placed in the needle cylinder slots after the needles have been inserted and are held in place by the two spring bands These pressers are so shaped that they bear against the needles at the extreme upper ends of the pressers and also at points opposite the spring bands 1. The needle cylinder slots are of greater than normal depth at their upper ends, forming shoulders k. The needles are unsupported above these shoulders, which act as fulcrums when needles are pushed back by the upper ends of pressers e. The jack dial d has slots corresponding in number'wlth the slots in the needle cylinder. At intervals and in groups in accordance with a pattern which is to be formed in the knitted fabric, jacks f are inserted in the dial slots. These jacks are held lightly in contact with their corresponding needle pressers e by a spring band 7.

A threaded clamp ring it holds the jacks in their proper vertical position. The jacks are formed with slots on their rear ends so that sections may be broken out in different places leavingbutts j which may be in any one of eight different vertical positions. If desired, there may be two or more butts on a jack. The one illustrated in Fig. 4 has butts in all 8 positions, whereas the one shown in Fig. 1 has a butt in the second highest position.

The eight cams 9 do not revolve and may be movable "into or out of the path of the butts of the jacks f, each of the eight cams being in alignment with one of the corresponding eight butt locations on the jacks.

When one or more of the eight cams g is moved and held in the path of the jacks having butts corresponding to the vertical positions of such cams, these jacks will be pushed inward and will in turn rock the corresponding pushers e, thereby springing the.corresponding needles at the fulcrum point is, causing their hooked ends to be set back out of line with the adjacent unpushed needles.

It is desirable to provide automatic patterncontrolled mechanism for actuating the cams g. Mechanism adapted to so actuate said cams has been devised by Harold E. Houseman and is the subject-matter of a separate application filed July 29,1927, Serial No. 209,382, now Patent No. 1,779,237.

It is possible to make the jacks f and pressers e integral, as shown in Fig. 5, wherein that portion of the unitary device (the presser) that engages the needle is lettered e while the camactuated portion of the device (the jack) is lettered Where, in the claims, jacks and pressers are specified, it is to be understood, unless otherwise stated, that it is intended to include a construction such, for example, as that shown in Fig. 5, in which the jacks and pressers are parts of an integral element. It is preferred, however, to make them separate, and particularly it is preferred to includemeans, such as the extension of the presser downward, preferably supplemented by the coil springs z', that will press inward the lower ends of the needles at the same time that their upper ends are pressed inward, thereby preventing the lower ends of the needles from springing out of their grooves when the upper ends of the needles are pressed in.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim. and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable needle cylinder provided with vertical grooves which at their upper ends are relatively deep, of needles supported in the narrower lower parts of the grooves and at their upper ends normally spaced from the inner walls of the grooves, pressers inserted in said grooves and adapted to push against the upper ends of corresponding needles and bend them backward inside the normal vertical needle positions, means to restrain the lower ends of the needles from springing out of their grooves, jacks adapted to so actuate said pressers, and cams non-rotatable with the needle cylinder, difierent jacks having difierential characteristics adapting them to be operated by respectively different cams, the cams being movable into and out of operative position.

2. In a knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable needle cylinder provided with vertical grooves which at their upper ends are relatively deep, of needles supported in the narrower lower parts of the grooves and at their] upper ends normally spaced from the inner walls of the grooves, pressers in said grooves, the upper ends of the pressers being adapted to push the free upper ends of the needles backward inside the normal vertical needle positions, springs coiled about the needle cylinder and engaging the lower ends of the pressers and holding them in the grooves, and means to diiferentially actuate the pressers to cause them to actuate different groups of needles at different courses, of knitting.

3. In a knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable needle cylinder provided with vertical grooves which at their upper ends are relatively deep, of needles supported in the narrower lower parts of the grooves and attheir upper ends normally spaced from the inner walls of the grooves, pressers inserted'in said grooves and adapted to push against the upper ends of corresponding needles and bend them backward inside the normal vertical needle positions, a rotatable jack dial having radial slots, jacks comprising arms slidable in said slots and adapted to engage said pressers, different jacks having diiTerently positioned cam-actuable elements, and earns non-rotatable with the needle cylinder and movable into and out of position to respectively engage differently positioned jack elements.

4. In a knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable needle cylinder provided with vertical grooves which at their upper ends are relatively deep, of needles supported in the narrow lower parts of the grooves and at their upper ends normally spaced from, the inner walls of the grooves, pressers inserted in said grooves and adapted to push against the upper ends of corends normally spaced from the inner walls of the grooves, pressers inserted in said grooves and adapted to push against the upper ends of corresponding needles and bend them backward inside the normal vertical needle positions and adapted also to press against the .lower endsof such needles and prevent them from, swinging out of their grooves, jacks separable from the pressers and movable into position to engage the pressers between their upper and lower ends, and earns non-rotatable with the needle cylinder, difierent jacks having differential characteristics adapting them to be operated by respectively clif ferent earns, the cams being movable into and out of operative position.

6. In a knitting machine, the combination, with a rotatable needle cylinder provided with vertical grooves which at their upper ends are relatively deep, of needles supported in the narrower lower parts of the grooves and at their upper ends normally spaced from the inner walls of the grooves, and devices positioned outside the circles of needles and rotatable with the needles and adapted to be actuated to press respectively different needles inward at points'opposite the deep and narrow parts respectively of the needle grooves, thereby bending in the hook ends of needles while restraining the other ends of bentin needles from springing out of their grooves.

'7. In a'knitting machine, the combination with a needle cylinder provided with grooves, needles supported in said grooves, and means tending to hold the needles in their grooves, of needle flexing means for selectively bending the hook ends of needles inward out of their normal knitting positions including pressers, one associated with each needle, adapted to positively hold the needles in their grooves while the needles are being flexed.

8. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a needle cylinder provided with needle grooves, needles in said grooves and a spring band supporting the needles in said grooves, of means adapted to be actuated to deflect the hook ends of selected needles inward out of their normal positions to efiect reverse plating, and means cooperating with said needle-deflecting means to hold the said selected needles and needles adjacent thereto from springing out of their grooves while the hook ends of said selectedneedles are being deflected inward.

9. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a needle cylinder provided with needle grooves, needles supported in said grooves, and a spring band encircling the needle cylinder and tending to hold all the needles from springing out of their grooves, of means adapted to be actuated to deflect the hook ends of selected needles inward out of their normal positions and to simultaneously hold the other ends of said selected needles from springing out of their grooves and at the same time prevent said spring band from displacement from its needle-holding position relative to needles not so deflected.

10. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a needle cylinder provided with needle grooves and needles supported in such grooves, of needle flexing devices adapted to be actuated to deflect the hook ends of selected needles inward out of their normal knitting positions, and means to hold the other ends of all the needles from springing out of their grooves, said means comprising .a spring band encircling the needle cylinder and pressers operating coordinately with the needle flexing devices to positively hold the selected needles from springing out of their grooves while their hook ends are being deflected inward, thereby maintaining the spring band in operative relation with the needles adjacent to the needles being so inwardly deflected.

11. In a knitting machine, the combination with a needle cylinder provided with grooves and needles supported in their grooves, of needle flexing means for selectively bending the hook ends of needles inward out of their normal knitting positions and special means actuated coordinately with the needle flexing means to prevent the lower ends of the needles from springing out of their grooves while they are being flexed.

12. In a knitting machine, the combination with a needle cylinder provided with grooves and needles supported in their grooves, of needle flexing means for selectively bending the hook ends of needles inward out of their normal knitting positions and a radially movable presser actuated coordinately with the needle flexing means to positively hold the needles in their grooves while they are being flexed.

13. In a knitting machine for fabricating regular and reverse plated fabrics, the combination with a needle cylinder provided with grooves, needles supported in said grooves, and means tending to hold the needles in their grooves, of needle flexing means for selectively bending the hook ends of needles inward out of their normal knitting positions including special means, actuated coordinately with the needle flexing means, to positively hold the lower ends of the needles from springing out of their grooves while they are being flexed.

WILBUR' L. HOUSEMAN. 

